The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has placed an annual limit of $10,000 for school fees and $5,000 for medical bills per individual.
This was contained in the recently released guidelines for Bureau de Change (BDC) operations in Nigeria, signed by Haruna Mustapha, director financial policy and regulation department.
In the guidelines, it was spelt out that BDCs may sell foreign currency up to the equivalent of $5,000 to a customer for medical bill once a year and such bill, which shall be transferred from the BDC’s domiciliary account with a Nigerian bank, shall be paid directly to the hospital and supported by the documents including a duly completed e-Form A; letter of reference from a specialist doctor, or a specialist hospital in Nigeria; valid international passport; valid visa; valid air ticket; and a letter issued by the overseas specialist doctor stating the cost of treatment.
“BDCs may sell foreign currency up to the equivalent of USD10,000 to a customer for school fee once a year. Such fee, which shall be transferred from the BDC’s domiciliary account with a Nigerian bank, shall be paid directly to the school and supported by the following documents: • Duly completed e-Form A, • Evidence of admission/course programme, • School bill/invoice, and • For post-graduate studies, photocopy of first degree certificate or its equivalent/certified true copy of statement of result by the awarding institution,” it read.
The guideline further noted that the CBN may review the amounts and frequencies for sale of foreign exchange from time to time.
Additionally, it said a beneficiary of foreign currency sale by a BDC may receive up to 25 per cent of the amount in cash, while at least 75 per cent shall be transferred electronically to the beneficiary’s domiciliary account or prepaid travel card, and that sales of the equivalent of USD500 and below by a BDC may be settled by the buyer in cash, while sales above USD500 shall be settled by electronic transfer to the BDC’s Naira account.
The CBN further mandated every BDC to maintain adequate records of all its transactions for transparency and compliance with AML/CFT/CPF provisions, CBN Guidelines, circulars or directives, that BDCs shall issue electronic statements/receipts showing details of the transactions with the customers, including BDC’s location, customer’s name and bank details, BVN/TIN, exchange rate, amount, number of identity document obtained, and date and time of transaction, and that all sales or purchases of foreign exchange shall be properly documented and recorded as may be required by the CBN.
“Such documents should be arranged sequentially and made available to CBN and other regulatory authorities on demand. xiv. Every BDC shall transact business at its registered office, branch or franchisee location approved by the CBN. Any BDC that operates outside these locations shall be sanctioned. No BDC shall have any business relationship with a street trader in foreign currency.”
The CBN further said sellers of the equivalent of USD10,000 and above to a BDC are required to declare the source of the foreign exchange and comply with all AML/CFT/CPF regulations and foreign exchange laws and regulations.
